Hannover, Germany, December 30, 2007—New year's preparations almost took a deadly turn in the German city of Hannover after an unexploded World War II bomb was found deep beneath a supermarket parking garage.

Some 14,000 residents were evacuated while the 1,000-pound (450-kilogram) U.S. explosive was safely defused, according to German media outlets.

Even more than 60 years after the war's end, live ordnance remains a concern in Germany. Some 22,000 residents, for example, were evacuated from Hannover last year so three unexploded British bombs could be deactivated.